Carmaker Jaguar is teaming up with Formula 1 team Williams build a £700,000 supercar which promises to be the greenest high performance vehicle the world has ever seen.

Carmaker Jaguar is teaming up with Formula 1 team Williams to build a £700,000 supercar which promises to be the greenest high performance vehicle the world has ever seen.

Just 250 examples of the vehicle will be built, each capable of accelerating from 0-100 in less than six seconds.

The project, known currently as the C-X75, will create 100 highly-skilled jobs to be split between Jaguar, which has facilities in Birmingham and Solihull as well as Gaydon, Warwickshire, and Oxfordshire-based Williams.

It signals the manufacturer’s plan to position itself as the world’s leader in high performance vehicles which are also kind to the environment.

Adrian Hallmark, Jaguar’s Brand Director, said Jaguar Land Rover had taken the decision to grab the motoring world’s attention with a spectacular and groundbreaking vehicle.

The decision to produce the car follows the rapturous reception given to a prototype version displayed at the Paris Motor show last October by motoring enthusiasts and the specialist trade press.

Jaguar’s new suupercar mixes a powerful combustion engine with two electric motors, giving it electricity-powered four wheel drive and carbon emissions of less than 99g/km.

Crucially, drivers will be able to switch to all-electric mode, giving them the most environmentally-friendly ride possible, and travel for more than 50km before the vehicle needs recharging or they are forced to use the combustion engine.

A common problem with electric cars so far has been their lack of range.

The C-X75, which will be renamed before it goes on the market, has a top speed of 200mph.

Jaguar are taking expressions of interest for the car now, and expect the cars to go into production between 2013 and 2015. They will cost from £700,000 each.

The announcement, which had been shrouded in secrecy, was made at a London launch event attended by Jaguar Land Rover Chief Executive Ralf Speth, Williams F1 founder Sir Frank Williams and Carl-Peter Forster, chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover’s parent company Tata Motors.

Jaguar will build the car at a dedicated facility, but is not yet revealing where that will be.

Speaking to the Birmingham Post and Mail
after the launch, Dr Speth said: "We are going to produce this vehicle in the UK and that is a huge commitment for the UK."

He added: "You can see that we are committed to the Midlands and the UK."

Mr Hallmark said: "We have taken a concept car from eight months ago and turned it into the word’s fastest and most sustainable supercar, as an expression of our confidence and vision and ambition for the future.

"It creates headroom for us to stretch the brand upwards and onwards in a completely different way."